Bella Dancerella

Ok watch out – massive picture overload here.

i am so proud of karissa! if you know the whole karissa saga, you will understand what a battle that child has been through, and why it is so amazing that she will be dancing in her first recital this coming Saturday. if you DON’T know her whole story….as a synopsis, she was born with a very mild form of spina bifida and no hip socket on her left side, meaning she basically couldn’t move her legs voluntarily for the first two months of her life. Nor could she hear until tubes were placed in her ears when she was two and a half. Through a lot of testing, therapy and doctor’s visits, she is the happy-go-lucky, dance to anything with half a beat, shake-your-groove-thang little girl that you see today. God has truly chosen her for something special. I am so lucky and proud to be her momma. (and as my eyes well up with tears as i am writing this, down the stairs she comes out of bed to tell me that she “needs a dwink”. end of sappy emotion.)

So all that to say – this child has worked her little booty off to catch up to the rest of her dance class and be in the recital this weekend. Compared to the absolute TRAUMA of kealey’s first recital (where she emphatically did NOT want to learn that dance, she wanted to just get out on stage and do her own little show), i think this time we will actually have a child who can appear to be keeping up with the choreography. I’ll hopefully have a little video of it to share after tomorrow nite’s dress rehearsal.

In case you can’t tell, they’re bumblebees. Doing the bumblebee salsa. I had no idea there was such a thing.

But it is cute as a , well, a bug. Or a bee. As the case may be.

And then just one more favorite – technically, a horrific picture (the sun came out as i was snapping a picture messing up my settings and blowing the highlights to heck). But the expression on kaylen’s face and just the funniness of the white trash child in a diaper only – i dunno – it makes me smile. So i’ll keep it, blown exposures and all.

holy heck could today have been any muggier? We really didn’t do a thing except go to dance class, but still, with this humidity, who would have wanted to? We did manage to have a little “picnic” out on the porch in back with some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (who? me? getting all domestic??? ok ok, they were break and bakes, but still…) And other than that, i am not sure exactly WHAT managed to fill our 12 hours…The girls have been SO good this week with Ben gone. I am so grateful for that because it just makes life so much easier when i am not having to discipline for two. I have been really sticking to their 8:00 bedtime, and finding that they are actually sleeping better/longer in the mornings on the nites that i do. Kealey is starting to slowly grasp the concept of earning an allowance (which she doesn’t yet), but I want her to get that being part of this family just comes with its responsibilities, not all of which she should be “rewarded” or “paid” for. And truly, she has such a good little heart and is such a help to me…I have to find a good happy medium between just getting her the things she wants (which this week is a Webkinz animal), and paying her for doing things which i feel should be part of her daily responsibilities. Its finding those above and beyond jobs and helping to attach the reward to the good attitude in doing those things without being asked.

The weather forecast tonite was supposed to be pretty severe T-storms, but so far, not too many clouds in sight. Still miserably muggy, and a TON of fireflies out in the front yard. Pretty cool sight. And now some fool is letting off forking bottle rockets. If they wake up my kids i am going to be severely upset!

Did you go vote yet? so far its a girl by a landslide! What are you people trying to do to me!?!?!? VOTE! ————————> its over there and its easy.

And Jenn, about the stroller, its the Kolcraft Contours Tandem. i was looking at the Phil&Ted. I even thought I would definitely have to drop almost 6 bills on one. Then I found this one, read the raving reviews on it, and the test drive helped solidify. The price? $200. A dream. Maybe Phil & Ted will take theirs back…

😉

Ok – I am off to watch some Intervention with some milk and FRESHLY SLAVED OVER cookies. What a good combo…